The fact that so many Americans find it normal to put offensive language in workplace communications shows the level to which professional discourse has fallen.

Let me confess my own sins first.

I have been known to toss around the occasional word or phrase at work which I would never utter in front of my children. Or my pastor. Or my mother. The fact that I can self-censor proves I am capable of keeping it clean. One of my New Year's resolutions was to stop cussing. I give myself a B+ for the first half.

Just this month I was on the phone with an extremely successful chief executive who casually dropped an f-bomb into our conversation.

"Americans are increasingly having trouble controlling what goes into their mouths and what comes out."-Funny Business, CNBC, Jane Wells

I burst out laughing.

It was funny.

It was sad.

If you watch "Mad Men",you're reminded that we didn't use to talk this way, especially in a professional setting.

Or we could blame Hollywood. If that bleeping noise they use to barely mask expletives was a stock, I'd go long.

Actually, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Americans are increasingly having trouble controlling what goes into their mouths and what comes out. If email filters and lectures from HR can force us to be more cordial and professional, well, for once, I agree with management.